Pachelbel: Gigue in D Major

[Martin Jonas]

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1709): Canon And Gigue in D Major (P.37)
2. Gigue

This is the second part of Pachelbel's Canon And Gigue -- much neglected and routinely omitted from performances and recordings of its vastly more famous companion piece, the Canon. The gigue itself is also partly in canon form and makes a lively coda to the more sombre Canon. As it was originally written for three violins, it translates just fine to mandolins.

Sheet music at IMSLP:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Canon_and_Gigu...elbel,_Johann)

My recording is on three mandolins, with the basso continuo played on mandocello as written (no chordal realisation).

1915 Luigi Embergher mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin (x2)
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



Martin

[HonketyHank]

Interesting. I don't think I have ever heard that played with its better known predecessor. I didn't even know it existed.

[Martin Jonas]

Interesting. I don't think I have ever heard that played with its better known predecessor. I didn't even know it existed.

Thanks, Hank. If you search on Youtube for "pachelbel gigue" you'll get a number of complete performances with both parts -- typically ones aiming for a more period-appropriate Baroque performance than the lush orchestral versions of the Canon that made the piece famous in the 1970s. Some of these take the Canon very fast indeed, which changes the character a lot.

Martin